Noodle & Beer
A head chef with a day off crosses London for the pigs' ear salad, because
the texture just doesn't exist in British food, and I can't understand why(SL.Man).
Why go
Xiaoxiao Wang opened this on Bell Lane in November 2019, cooking the Chongqing end of Sichuan rather than the whole province flattened into one menu. The transliterations on the board tell you that: tian-shui mian, lang-ya tu dou, gong-bao ji ding, choo-shou. The kitchen makes the noodles in the building, and the crinkle-cut potato that comes out of the wok sitting in chilli oil.
There is a numbered chilli scale. John Li of Dumpling Shack, whose own stall sits in the market across the road, eats here when he is working and points at "level five chilli dishes", which tells you both that the scale exists and that a Sichuan cook takes it seriously.
The room is small and off the market, and it works for one person with a bowl of soup as well as it works for a table ordering eleven things. Jake Missing gave it 8.2 for The Infatuation in January 2024 and said the trouble with the menu is that you want all of it.
Note the address before you go anywhere. There are two Noodle & Beers now. This is the original at 31 Bell Lane. The second opened on Wardour Street in Chinatown in January 2025 and everything on this page was written about Spitalfields.
Order this / avoid
- Order: tian-shui mian, thick and chewy in a sweet and spicy sauce. Lang-ya tu dou, which Missing called the best thing here. Pigs' ear salad, for the texture Ben Curtis keeps coming back for. Gong-bao ji ding for the table, tangy rather than sweet. Red bean taro balls at the end.
- Avoid: ordering the whole menu, which is the standard mistake and the critic's own warning. Taking a level five on a first visit without knowing your tolerance. Turning up at eleven expecting to eat, because the kitchen shuts at ten most nights.
What locals & experts say
- Ben Curtis, head chef at Smoking Goat, SL.Man (3 November 2021):
If it's my day off, I'm tired and want something casual but complex, I'll head to Noodle & Beer in Spitalfields Market. The Chongqing-style noodles always satisfy but I always go back for the pigs' ear salad.
6 - John Li, co-founder of Dumpling Shack, Trippin (18 October 2022):
One of my go-to restaurants when I'm working in Spitalfields. There's a real spice kick on their level five chilli dishes!
7 - Jake Missing, The Infatuation, scored 8.2 (12 January 2024), reviewed at 31 Bell Lane:
Of all the many excellent combinations at Noodle & Beer, it's the lang-ya tu dou and our mouths that we like best... a plate of handmade crinkle-cut and wok-fried chips bathing in Sichuan chilli oil.
And on the room:the space, in the quiet respite off Spitalfields Market, makes for an excellent low-key lunch or dinner.
1 - Xiaoxiao Wang on opening the Chinatown site, London The Inside (28 November 2024):
For the Chinese and ESEA community, Chinatown London is more than just a place for authentic food; it's a cultural anchor.
That quote is about Wardour Street, and it is the only source that names the founder.3
Good to know
- Where: 31 Bell Lane E1 7LA, in the quiet just off Spitalfields Market. Liverpool Street or Aldgate East.
- Hours: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 11:30 to 22:00, Friday and Saturday 11:30 to 22:30. First-party.
- Booking: online up to eight people. Larger groups have to enquire.
- Sites: two. Spitalfields, this one, opened November 2019. Chinatown, 27 Wardour Street W1D 6PR, opened January 2025. They hold separate hygiene records.
- Heat: the chilli runs on a numbered scale. Level five is a real thing a Sichuan chef flags.
- Beer: the name promises it and nothing reachable describes the list at this address. The rotating monthly selection reported in the press is the Chinatown site.
- Hygiene: FSA rating 5, Tower Hamlets, inspected 3 April 2024, FHRSID 1227620, components 5/5/5 where lower is better. A new rating is pending, so a more recent inspection exists and is unpublished.4
- Dietary: unknown. A halal claim circulates online and the venue states nothing on any page we could read.
Verdict
should-visit — Cross town for it if you like heat, and go at lunch when Spitalfields is quiet. This is Chongqing and Sichuan cooking on Bell Lane since November 2019, from Xiaoxiao Wang, and the register is regional rather than broad: tian-shui mian, lang-ya tu dou, gong-bao ji ding, pigs' ear salad, a numbered chilli scale that runs to at least five. Two working chefs put it in print. Ben Curtis of Smoking Goat calls it his day-off room and goes back for the pig's ear because 'the texture just doesn't exist in British food'. John Li of Dumpling Shack, whose own stall is in the market across the road, eats here when he is working. Jake Missing scored it 8.2 and wrote that the problem with the menu is wanting all of it. It stops short of the top rung because London has real Sichuan depth and nothing here is unavailable elsewhere, and because the strongest evidence is two to five years old.